Ground Broken for New Ridges Building

Members of The Ridges Board and Baileys Harbor Town Board took shovels in hand for the ceremonial Earth Day groundbreaking.

As a Sandhill Crane chirruped in the background, Steve Leonard, executive director of The Ridges Sanctuary, greeted about 70 people who turned out on a chilly Earth Day morning to break ground for its Cook-Albert Fuller Center in Baileys Harbor.

Leonard thanked all of those who contributed to The Ridges vision of protecting land, environmental education and research, and, most of all, to the “model of sustainability” The Ridges provides.

Leonard said actual construction will begin in two to three weeks, and the 7,200-square-foot building is expected to open in early 2015. It will be the first LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Development) certified commercial building in Door County.